


full house

by thunderylee



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Canon Universe, Future Fic, M/M, side ryouchi, spawn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-22
Updated: 2010-05-22
Packaged: 2019-01-30 21:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12661446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: And baby makes four.





	full house

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck.

“Wasn’t there an American show in the 80s just like this?” was all Jin can think of to say.

On his front doorstep, Yamapi gave him an unimpressed look as he juggled a good number of suitcases, bags, and a baby sling. “You were in Los Angeles too long.”

“But it was set in San Francisco,” Jin argued, but he relieved Yamapi of his sleepy burden and left Ryo to deal with the luggage.

*

“I don’t see how it takes three grown men to raise one little girl,” Uchi comments ten years later, looking just as fabulous due to an obsessive relationship with anti-wrinkle face cream. “She basically wears the pants in this house anyway.”

“Which includes you,” Ryo snaps from their bedroom. “Or did you forget who she calls ‘Aunt Hiro’.”

Uchi folds his arms and eyes his boyfriend of however many years. They’d be married if it wasn’t such a hassle; they can’t even be bothered to decide when their actual anniversary is. “That’s just because I had long hair when she was younger.”

“No, it’s because you’re more of a girl than I am,” Yamashita Arina tells them as she walks by, ponytail in full swing.

She stops long enough to grin at Uchi before taking off. He gives chase and Ryo just shakes his head while they race through the house, nearly knocking over Yamapi in the kitchen and rousing the dogs from their nap.

“No running in the house!” Jin yells from the balcony.

Everyone ignores him. Ten-year-old Ari giggles hysterically as she breezes effortlessly around corners and over furniture, while thirty-five-year-old Uchi struggles to keep up and ends up falling flat on his face behind the couch.

Ari’s face is flushed but other than that she looks like she’s as relaxed as ever, hopping up on the counter while her dad makes lunch.

“Old man,” Ryo teases as he walks up to Uchi and kicks him in the butt.

“Hate you,” Uchi hisses into the carpet.

Yamapi flips the cutlets mindlessly while gazing in adoration at his daughter. “That’s my girl.”

Ari beams.

Huffing, Jin stomps down the stairs and flops on the couch. “No one listens to me around here.”

Yet never once in ten years has he considered kicking any of them out.

*

It made sense for Jin and Ryo to live together after Jin came back from L.A. the second time, even if it only made sense to _them_.

“I give it a month before they kill each other,” Kame said, and Koki immediately took bets from everyone in the jimusho.

Jin and Ryo bet on ‘never’ and used the winnings to put a down payment on a two-story house a year later.

And then Jin left again.

*

Ari was four when she first asked about Mama. Yamapi was never secretive about her and the few pictures he had were displayed in remembrance, but one of Ari’s new preschool classmates had talked about her own mother and Ari wanted to know why she didn’t have one too.

“Mama worked really hard to have you,” Yamapi told her gently while Ryo played the compilation video he’d made shortly after Ari was born. “Then it was up to me.”

Ari just nodded and watched the video, smiling at the woman whom her father kept looking at with doting eyes. Scene after scene of the grinning couple, their love shining even on digital film as her mother’s face glowed brighter and her belly got bigger. Her name was Arisa and she was nobody famous, an old family friend that Yamapi reunited with one summer and fell head over heels for. From the size of her smile in every memory, there was no doubt that she felt the same way.

They had planned to be married after the baby was born. Even if it would have meant his job.

Jin had to leave the room, leaning his forehead against the wood paneling of the wall in the hallway. Even now he hates himself a little for not being there until it was too late.

*

“Never thought I would see that one playing a dad,” Yamapi comments as they settle in to watch Kame’s newest drama.

“Never thought I would see you _being_ a dad,” Jin counters, smiling fondly at his old bandmate’s face on the TV.

Yamapi glances over to where Ari is planted on the floor in front of the recliner where Uchi’s leaning over to give her some complicated looking double-French-braid thing. “It’s interesting how things happen.”

Jin remembers years of giving in and butting heads, realizing with amusement that the six letters of KAT-TUN have met for pleasure more often since they were dissolved than they did when they were active. Tomorrow, in fact, he has tickets to see Ueda’s rock band, which he’s taking Ari to despite Yamapi’s reluctance, and he’s meeting Nakamaru this weekend for lunch and gossip; it’s been a while since Jin has seen his face. He’s looking forward to hearing about the new generation of juniors on The Shounen Club, what kind of underground beats Koki is dreaming up for their unofficial duo, and how annoying Taguchi has been as an official Johnny’s choreographer.

He doesn’t have to wonder about Kame because he just got a message this morning telling Jin that he should watch Kame’s new drama because his baby’s mother has a great rack. Even better than Yamapi’s.

Watching it now, Jin’s not that impressed. Then again, he and Kame have never had even remotely similar tastes in people. He sends off a mail – _Pi’s got her beat_ – and receives an immediate response: _You’re biased._

He snorts. So what if he is.

“Kame’s so pretty~” Uchi drawls, his hands pausing on Ari’s hair while he grins stupidly at the TV. “He’s certainly aged gracefully, hasn’t he.”

Five years ago Ryo would have reached over the back of the chair and yanked Uchi by the hair, but now he just rolls his eyes and thinks that Kame couldn’t put up with Uchi’s shit _for a day_.

*

These days kids are maturing earlier and earlier, and Ari was barely seven years old when she started acting curious about love and its subsequent actions.

At the first sign of interest, Yamapi gathered his housemates for an emergency parenting meeting. “Loser gets to tell her,” he said seriously, preparing for the janken match.

Ryo lost and bought her a book. With pictures, he noted in disgust. He left it on the dining table with cookies and milk after school and conveniently disappeared to Osaka for a week. Sometimes it came in handy to be the only one still in a functioning boyband.

When he returned, there was a brightly colored picture of a sperm – complete with smiley face – on the refrigerator, and Yamapi couldn’t stay mad at him because Ari had thought it was ‘so cute’.

The second attempt was much simpler and involved Uchi, who happily agreed to have The Talk with Yamapi’s daughter in exchange for Ryo being his love slave.

“Boys are gross,” Uchi told Ari. They both had matching pigtails and pink cheeks.

Ari nodded with big eyes. “Yeah they are.”

Yamapi slept easily.

*

“It’s for the better,” Yamapi insisted, his eyes dangerously glossy. “We weren’t bringing in a lot of money and we’re all overwhelmed with other projects, it’s much better for the company to market us individually or in duos-”

“Stop being rational,” Ryo barked as he rubbed his forehead. “This sucks. NEWS was fun.”

Yamapi sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and Jin tried not to let his focus shift. “It _was_ fun. I will miss being a leader.”

“You’ll always be a leader,” Uchi spoke up from where he was sitting behind Ryo, arms squeezed tightly around his waist. It would have been comforting if he wasn’t making fish lips in Ryo’s ear.

“Yeah,” agreed Kusano, grinning brightly as he looked up from the lyrics he’d been writing with Jin. “Just because we’re not following you on stage anymore doesn’t mean that we still don’t look up to you.”

Yamapi buried his face in his hands, but he was covering a big smile.

Then a little hand tugged on his arm. “Papa, why are you crying?”

Jin’s heart broke at the way Ari’s eyes teared up just looking at her father so sad, but Yamapi smiled even harder and pulled the toddler into his lap. “Papa won’t sing and dance with NEWS anymore, baby.”

Ari blinked. “Will you still sing and dance with Uncle Jin and Uncle Ryo?”

Kusano raised his eyebrow at the aforementioned, and Jin felt a little sheepish when Yamapi nodded firmly and hoped that the videos of three-part lullabies would stay their family secret.

“Will you still be on TV?” Ari asked. “Will Uncle Kei and Uncle Shige still come over to play? Will Yuuya-nii still show me magic tricks? You said Taka-nii was going to teach me how to swim this summer, is that not true anymore?”

Yamapi swallowed hard. “All of those things are still happening, Ari-chan. They’re not going away just because we don’t work together.”

A chubby hand reached up to wipe Yamapi’s eyes. “Then it’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Leave it to a three-year-old to put things in perspective,” Ryo pointed out needlessly, smiling at the smart little girl and elbowing Uchi in the side. “Must have gotten her common sense from her mother.”

Yamapi just laughed and hugged his daughter to his chest. “I’m so glad I have you.”

Jin offered a sympathetic smile before kicking himself to get back to Kusano and their work. They had to be ready for his first world tour in a week.

*

“Sometimes I forget,” Jin confesses quietly, lifting his feet to push them back and forth on the porch swing whose creak is the only other sound in the late suburban night. “Even when I see myself on TV, old promotional videos and concert DVDs, it feels like I’m looking at a completely different person.”

There isn’t a response right away, and Jin starts to think that Yamapi fell asleep on him until that deep voice speaks softly. “You didn’t have to retire, you know. You’re not even forty yet.”

Jin cringes at the unhelpful reminder that he’s not getting any younger. “That’s just it, Pi. I was wasting time. I’ve felt more alive since I’ve been home than I did on any stage across the globe.”

“Don’t let your fans hear you say that,” Yamapi says with a scoff. “They’ll hate you for being selfish. They contributed to the money you’re living off of.”

“I know that,” Jin huffs. “That’s not what I meant. Arina isn’t my daughter but I’ve known her since she was three months old, and I’ve already missed so much of her childhood. Stupid Uchi is closer to her than I am and he didn’t officially move in until a few years ago.”

“There’s no comparison there,” Yamapi points out. “Uchi practically lived here before I even met Arina’s mom. And your U.S. debut meant that you spent a lot of time over there, Jin, it was inevitable. That was your _dream_.”

“That _was_ my dream,” Jin emphasizes. “And I lived it. Then I came home and thought ‘now what’.”

“You act like you have no part in this or something,” Yamapi says, turning to face his longtime best friend. “Since the day I showed up on your doorstep with her, we’ve been in this together. You’re practically her father too. She sees Uchi as more of a friend because he doesn’t punish her or correct her behavior. She thinks _the world_ of you. She is even studying English to understand your music better. Why do you think she watches your old concerts and videos?”

“Because she likes KAT-TUN the best?” Jin guesses, only half serious.

Yamapi shakes his head and leans back. “If you’re too stupid to figure it out, I’m certainly not going to spell it out for you.”

“What kind of role model am I anymore,” Jin scoffs as he looks out into the night. “I work when I feel like it, I’m always home, but I get to see her smiling face every day and watch her grow up.”

“My little girl,” Yamapi begins firmly, “is your biggest fan.”

Jin stares at him.

“And you’re letting her down.”

The bench swings off-balance as Yamapi jumps up and heads inside. Jin watches the air he left behind and wonders if Yamapi was only speaking for his daughter.

It would make sense if he wasn’t, because neither is Jin.

*

Jin was twenty-eight years old when his life changed. It wasn’t when he got his big break in L.A., when KAT-TUN sang for the last time, or even when he made his U.S. debut. It was the night he opened his front door to the man he’d known for half of his life, along with his infant daughter, both of whom needed him more than a spot on a stage or a part in a song.

On that night, Jin promised himself that he would always take care of them both. Yamapi did well for himself but he was clueless about raising a little girl, lost in aisles of frilly dresses, dolls, and messy braids. His mom and Rina helped, along with Jin’s mom and Ryo’s sister, but it was mostly trial and error on Yamapi’s part with Ryo stepping in when necessary and Jin watching from the side. Pictures and videos were sent while he was overseas, working hard to please his American fanbase while simultaneously building up his nest egg for the three of them.

From that moment, Jin’s future didn’t exist without Yamapi and Arina in it. Because Yamapi wasn’t likely to settle just to give Ari a mother figure, and he had loved Arisa so much that Jin doubted he would ever give his heart to anyone else. Even if it wasn’t the conventional way of doing things, Jin was fine with it. From the second he laid eyes on the baby girl with Yamapi’s eyes, curling against his chest while Yamapi and Ryo unpacked the car, he no longer had any interest in pursuing something like this for himself. Yamashita Arina was the only girl he wanted in his life.

He was really, really glad he’d opted to take the earlier flight back from Los Angeles that day. He’d only been home for fifteen minutes when the knock sounded on his door.

“Thanks,” Yamapi said awkwardly an hour later, after Ari was obliviously asleep in her makeshift crib and Ryo looked like he wanted to join her, but Yamapi’s red eyes demanded both of their attention. “My mom said she would take her, but… I want her to have a father.”

Jin didn’t voice it at the time, but he was thinking that Ari would have at least _three_ fathers judging by the protective look in Ryo’s eyes and the flopping of his own heart. This was something that was important to Yamapi, though, for obvious reasons.

“You can stay here as long as you want,” was all Jin said. “Forever, even.”

Ryo took a different approach. “We have four bedrooms. You’re both moving in.”

Yamapi looked in danger of losing control of his emotions, for what would be the first of many times, but they were still young and naive enough for Jin and Ryo to avert their eyes and mumble excuses before heading to their respective bedrooms.

Ten years later, when Arina looks more and more like Arisa every day and Yamapi hasn’t had enough sleep to handle it, he waits until he’s in Jin’s arms to let it out.

*

At thirty-eight, Jin has had three English albums, two worldwide tours, and a petition in every language for him to come out of retirement. He’s gained some weight but he can still dance, and his voice is as crisp and clear as ever. He still has all of his hair and there are only a few wrinkles gracing his otherwise flawless face, even if Yamapi insists that they’re signs of wisdom. In one week, he writes three songs entirely in Japanese with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Old habits die hard.

Ari is the first person to hear them. She is also the reason why he’s standing in front of the newly-appointed Unit Coordinator of Johnny’s & Associates, whose unimpressed face is exactly the same as it was twenty years ago.

“I should make you audition,” Domoto Koichi says briskly. “But something tells me that you were prepared for that.”

Jin shifts his guitar case to his other hand and bites back a sarcastic remark. “Retirement is unfulfilling.”

“I would expect that from you,” Koichi tells him, and it feels like a compliment. “From a marketing standpoint, there’s money to be made by putting you on stage any _where_ and with any _one_ , so I guess it’s up to you what you want to do within the abilities of this agency.”

It’s disappointing to hear, and Jin recalls the reason he left in the first place. “Can’t you just… tell me what to do?” he asks carefully.

Koichi tilts his head in confusion. “I don’t really understand why you’re here, Jin. You’ve proved that you don’t need anyone backing you to be successful. You could sign a deal with any record company in the _world_ and hand-pick your manager from a line of willing participants that stretches around the _city_. Why do you want to be limited with Johnny’s?”

A smile creeps across Jin’s face as his eyes drift to the portrait on the wall, the man who gave him a chance all those years ago. “It’s because of him that I have this choice,” he finally says. “I have him to thank for who I am, what I’ve done, and who I’ve met along the way. If I’m going to sing, I’ll only sing for him.”

Koichi follows his eyes and stifles a laugh. “He would roll over in his grave if he heard you spouting such bullshit.”

“That’s probably true,” Jin agrees, laughing as well. “And I don’t like to make decisions.”

“ _That_ is more like it,” Koichi says knowingly. He scrolls through a giant spreadsheet of dates and appointments that’s projected on the wall across his office. Jin’s only been out for two years, but most of the years before that were overseas and he hardly recognizes any of these units anymore. “Looks like I have a week free at the end of next month. Can you be ready by then?”

“Solo?” Jin practically squeaks out. He feels nervous all of a sudden; he’d forgotten how fast things happened around here.

Koichi smiles warmly. “With whoever you want to take on stage with you. They just have to be cleared by management.”

Jin can think of five people off the top of his head, all of whom will laugh in his face when he asks them but won’t think twice about saying yes. Maybe.

“I’ll do my best,” he says now, filled with determination that he hasn’t felt in a long time.

And hope for the future.

*

“It’s only been five minutes and I hate you all over again,” Ueda grumbles as he looks at the set list. “I haven’t danced properly in seven years.”

Kame scoffs. “We couldn’t dance in sync when we were together, why would we be able to now?”

“I really missed you guys~” Taguchi calls out from the the top of the fake yacht, where he’s already memorized his position for the beginning of the first song.

“Shut up, Taguchi!” five voices echo through the venue, followed by comfortable laughter.

“It’s short notice so I figured we would just do old songs,” Jin tells them, forcing his voice to project and take charge. “We don’t really have the time or means to make anything new.”

“What are you talking about, Akanishi?” Koki asks incredulously. “I’ve got the means to make _anything_ , fool. I’ve been sitting on beats I can’t use because I’d be laughed out of the scene, but they’re perfect for this.”

“I’m in a band, I write lyrics in the shower,” Ueda adds. “I know you’re fast too, Jin. Together we should be able to come up with something.”

“I have all the time in the world!” Taguchi exclaims as he jogs up. “Also, I can put together a simple dance for us so we’re not just standing around looking old.”

“I can split vocals,” Nakamaru offers. “I’ve just been doing two, but I bet I could manage six. It won’t take very long once we have a song.”

Kame frowns. “I can’t do anything to contribute, I’m filming.”

He jumps when Jin punches him in the arm. “Just be the K, Kame. That’s all I need from you.”

“I can do that,” Kame says with a nod. “Sometimes I feel like I never stopped doing that.”

“I didn’t want to,” Koki mutters bitterly, finally looking at Jin. “Why do you want us here anyway? Don’t you like it better by yourself?”

“At one time I did,” Jin answers honestly. “Things are different now. I’ve achieved my dream and now I have a new one.”

“Your dream involves KAT-TUN reuniting?” Ueda asks skeptically. “Do you hear voices too?”

Jin just smiles at him. “When you have someone to live for, making them happy is what makes you happy.”

The other five look thoughtful, then Koki’s face breaks out into a grin. “So how is Yamapi, anyway?”

Jin rolls his eyes, but he denies nothing. “He’s fine, unless you count his irrational fear of premature balding. His daughter is beautiful, though, you guys have to see her school pictures.”

The next hour is spent with Jin proudly holding up his phone and only making it through five percent of the pictures in his Arina folder, after which there is no longer any doubt in anyone’s mind why Jin has brought them together like this.

Ari’s favorite KAT-TUN song is ‘You’, and Jin wonders if she knows that it’s probably because Jin used to sing it to her every night he was home when he insisted on putting her to bed himself.

And now he can sing it to her properly.

*

> _My Idol  
>  by Yamashita Arina, grade 4_ __
> 
> _My idol is a man by the name of Akanishi Jin. He is not related to me by blood but I have called him Uncle ever since I can remember. He wasn’t around a lot when I was younger but that’s okay because I could see him on TV and hear him on the radio. He is a world famous musical artist, previously the A in the legendary Johnny’s group KAT-TUN. Some say that he has the voice of an angel, but I think if I ever heard an angel’s voice I would think it sounded like Uncle Jin._
> 
> _Uncle Jin is my father’s best friend since before I was born. Papa said that Uncle Jin took us in to help raise me when Mama died three months after I was born. Papa said that Uncle Jin wants to live with us forever, even after Uncle Ryo and Aunt Hiro finally move out. Papa said that Uncle Jin loves me like I’m his own daughter, and sometimes I wish I was. I wish it was possible to be the daughter of both of them. Maybe I would have a pretty face like Uncle Jin._
> 
> _Two years ago, Uncle Jin stopped singing in America and returned home to Japan full-time. I loved having him around because he’s really gentle and takes me to fun places. But I missed watching Uncle Jin perform and I told Papa, who said something to Uncle Jin even though I told him not to and I was mad at him until he took me to see Uncle Jin’s comeback live. The rest of KAT-TUN were there, all of them, and they sang my favorite song. I cried and Papa cried and I think Uncle Jin was crying on stage too. It was hard to tell under that hat._
> 
> _I admire Uncle Jin because of his love for Papa and me. He would do anything for us no matter what. I think that people like Uncle Jin, who are helpful and generous without expecting anything in return but the happiness of others, are the kind of people that everyone should try to be. If more people were like Uncle Jin, there would be less bad things happening. Bad things are caused by bad people, so if there were no bad people then there would be no bad things. It’s logic._
> 
> _The end._

“I do believe she just equated you with world peace,” Yamapi says in amusement as he carefully laminates the essay before tacking it onto the fridge.

Jin bounces his weight from side to side awkwardly. “Shouldn’t you be her idol, though? I mean, you work hard to give her a good life-”

“Jin,” Yamapi interrupts. “The assignment was a non-relative. The other kids wrote about superheroes and anime characters.”

The essay shines from its place amongst drawings and report cards. “So I’m as cool as Superman?”

Yamapi laughs. “You do have the potential to stop crime, apparently.”

Jin feels his face heat up as he continues to look at the neatly-scrawled kanji. He can’t take his eyes off of it. “I wish she didn’t make me sound so gay for you.”

“You mean you’re not gay for me?” Yamapi fakes surprise, which transforms into fake hurt and his trademark pout. “What have we been _doing_ all these years?”

“Shut up,” Jin mumbles, giving Yamapi a halfhearted shove. “I’m too old for labels.”

“Tell me about it.” Yamapi sighs, resting his chin on Jin’s shoulder as his arm slips casually around Jin’s waist. “I stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago.”

That warmth comes back, but this time it’s not just in his face. “I think we’re going to need a bigger fridge.”


End file.
